Days Like This
by RachaelSummer
Summary: "Leslie, I'm standing in Jake's hospital room, but he isn't here. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" AU Tag to 3x06, in which things were a little tougher on Jake.


"Don't you shoot me, Leslie! I was already shot once today!"

"I'm not gonna shoot you, Jake." Leslie said quietly. More loudly, "Just let him go, Kenny, and we can work this all out."

"I can't do that. I gotta get out of here." With that, Kenny reached into the pickup and pulled the seat forward, motioning for Jake to get in the back with his gun. With one last pleading look at Leslie, Jake did so. Kenny fired a last shot towards Leslie, causing her to duck for cover behind what was left of the car. When she scrambled back up, the truck was pulling around the corner. Jake was gone.

* * *

Leslie was worried. Jake hadn't looked so good at the abandoned lot. She had heard Jake cry out when that truck came through, and she suspected it was because he had landed on his shoulder. He had looked and sounded in pain as he got in the truck, as rightly he should. Leslie really regretted letting him leave the hospital. She'd never admit it, not even to herself, but that nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach was easily identifiable as worry. Sighing, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through the contacts. This was not a call she wanted to make.

* * *

Pulling himself into the back of the cab cost Jake more than he cared to admit. With his left arm out of commission, it turned into a bit of a balancing act that ended with him collapsing onto the back seat a bit harder than he should of, resulting in a wave of pain coursing through his shoulder, until the pain was all he knew. By the time he returned to himself, the truck had pulled around the corner. Leslie was gone. He became aware of someone talking, and after a moment or two of hard concentration he was able to make out the words:

"...it wasn't supposed to go like this! In and out, no one any the wiser. Then him and his cop friend show up. I can't go to jail, I just can't!" Roger was getting more and more worked up in the passenger seat, and Kenny's driving was getting more erratic as a result. Breathing through the pain in his shoulder, Jake felt the need to speak up before things got even more out of hand.

"Woah dere, b'y...no one...said anyt'in...'bout goin' t' jail. You ain't done...not'in...yet...that can't...be fixed."

"But I shot you!"

"I'll be fine. Couple o' shots o'...o'...o' wh-whiskey an' I'll be right as...right as...righ'as..." Roger looked in the rear view mirror in time to see Jake slump over to the side, his head bouncing off the window. He didn't react.

"Oh, this isn't good."

* * *

"Leslie, I'm standing in Jake's hospital room, but he isn't here. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

"Malachy..." Leslie started, but something in the way she said his name must have tipped him off.

"What's my idiot son gone and done now, eh? He's gonna get himself killed." Malachy turned in a circle as he spoke, his nervous energy keeping him from staying still.

"Malachy," Leslie began again. "Jake's been kidnapped."

"What?" Malachy froze. "Here, from the hospital? He can't have gotten far." He turned hard and yanked the door open, but got no further before Leslie spoke again.

"Malachy, wait. Jake wasn't..." Leslie exhaled shakily. "Jake wasn't in the hospital when it happened. He was with me."

Malachy reached behind him for something to grab onto. Rose guided him to the edge of the hospital bed, where they sat together. Malachy put the call on speaker. "What happened, Leslie? Why wasn't he here?"

"I was leaving the hospital to check out a lead, and Jake came along and threatened to go it alone unless I let him tag along. I thought it would be better to keep him close, keep an eye on him."

"He's a stubborn idiot, that one."

"I don't disagree with you there, Malachy. Anyways, we confronted one of our suspects and scared him into meeting his partner. We followed him in my car and confronted both partners, but someone in a pickup truck tried to run us down. We scattered, and when I came back up the pickup driver had Jake at gunpoint. He forced Jake into the truck and took off. Jake, he didn't look too good, Mal. That shoulder's really bothering him, and he took a hard fall on it diving out of the way of the truck. God, this is all my fault." Leslie couldn't hide the tears that threatened to choke out her voice.

Rose jumped in. "Leslie, there was nothing you could do. Don't go beating yourself up over it. We'll get him back."

"You're the best thing to ever happen to him, Leslie." Malachy reassured her. "We'll find him. What do you remember of the truck?"

"Yeah, it was a black Dodge pickup, extended cab. The guy who grabbed Jake, his name's Kenny, we think he was in on the heist. "

"That's great, Leslie. Rose'll get started on that as soon as we get back to the office. You should head home, get some rest. You'll need it."

"All due respect Malachy, but I can't do that, not while Jake's missing. I've got to find him. Keep me posted."

Hanging up, Malachy breathed a heavy sigh. Rose's phone rang. "It's Kathleen."

"Take it. I'll call Christian. Let's go."

* * *

**So, my first multi-chapter fic of any kind...we'll see if I ever get around to finishing it. Maybe posting it will give me the incentive.**


End file.
